In treating various disorders such as snoring, OSA, COPD, asthma, heart failure, etc., therapies such as pulmonary rehabilitation or mechanical ventilation are typically employed. Pulmonary rehabilitation generally involves educating the patient and having them perform various exercises to reduce symptoms and to decreases the disability by helping to condition pulmonary muscles and increase inspiratory tidal volumes. However, such pulmonary rehabilitation exercises require that the patient consciously perform them and they cannot be done while the patient is asleep.
In pulmonary rehabilitation as well as mechanical ventilation devices may aid facilitating the inspiration of air but also provide expiratory resistance in delaying the expiration of air from the patient's lungs. This expiratory delay not only decreases the patient's respiration rate, but the delayed retention of air within the lungs may also facilitate gaseous exchange to improve oxygen saturation levels as well as reduce symptoms of snoring, OSA, COPD, asthma, heart failure, etc.
Treatments such as mechanical ventilation machines are generally utilized to treat respiratory disorders such as OSA. In use, a mask is placed over the patient's nose and/or mouth or nasal pillows are positioned within the nostrils of the patient and air is delivered at a continuous positive pressure into the airways of the patient to prevent or inhibit the upper airways from collapsing during sleep. Such devices, known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices may be set a constant pressure level or they may be set at differing pressure levels. However, many patients have difficulties in adjusting to CPAP devices for various reasons.
Yet another treatment involves the placement of airflow resistance devices directly within the nostrils or nasal passages of the patient. These devices are generally removably secured within the nostrils by resistance or within the mouth and incorporate a valve to provide for inspiration of air but provides for increased resistance to expiration to create a positive pressure ventilation. However, such devices requiring securement, e.g., within the nostrils, may be uncomfortable for the user to wear and may also provide a poor fit depending upon the anatomy of the patient's nasal passages.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system which can create expiratory positive airway pressure to treat various conditions while providing for patient comfort regardless of the patient's anatomical variances.